Tag: Hip

MORAL: We know a little more than we did 10 years ago, but we didn’t know much then either. We now know that we have been calling trochanteric bursitis by the wrong name. WHOOPEE! We think we know how to treat hip pain (isometrics progressing to loaded movement), but we aren’t completely sure yet. Don’t you love evidence-based medicine? I know I do. I feel smarter after reading this article (shaking my head no at the same time).

“Gluteal tendinopathy is though to be the primary cause of lateral hip pain”

Gluteal, otherwise known as buttock, tendinopathy (a dysfunction of the tendon) is a major cause of lateral hip pain. Of course before we go here, the therapist or physician should rule out the spine as a cause of your symptoms. If he/she does not know how to do this, go to find a MDT therapist.

A long time ago (couple of years ago actually) there was this common diagnosis that we would get as a referral…trochanteric bursitis. It would make patients feel so smart that they remembered this term for their entire lives, because at some point a doctor may have told them that this is what is causing their pain. In 2 out of 10 patients with hip pain (outer border of the thigh), this diagnosis may be correct. If so…you are such a smarty pants. For the other 8 of 10, this article will apply to you (see below).

“While this condition has traditionally been referred to as trochanteric bursitis, gluteus medius and/or minimus tendinopathy is now accepted as the most prevalent pathology in those with pain and tenderness over the greater trochanter…of 75 individuals…only 8 had bursal involvement”

This to me is awesome! Think about it…the medical profession has been around as long as prostitution and yet we still don’t know what we are selling. At least the other profession knows its product.

The research on this diagnosis is relatively new…the past 15 years, but I didn’t hear about this while going to PT school. I’ll tell you what I did learn about though…trochanteric bursitis. It’s a shame that the research is not making it into the school system. If your doctor/therapist/chiropractor/naturopath/neighbor calls it trochanteric bursitis it means one of two things, or both: 1. They don’t read current research 2. They graduated from a school that doesn’t teach current research. I know that it is semantics, a rose is but a rose and all, but a name is important. If we are treating trochanteric bursitis, we are assuming from the name that it is an inflammatory issue of the trochanteric bursa (fluid filled sack that hurts like heck when irritated). If we are treating gluteal tendinopathy, then we are treating a muscle tendon dysfunction. These are treated totally different based on tradition and current research; so the name matters.

“While a number of risk factors for the development of gluteal tendinopathy have been proposed, few have been validated”

In other words, we think we know what places you at risk, but we can’t be sure. Modern science is awesome. Everyone wants information, but also needs to understand that we don’t have crystal balls. This whole evidence based practice thing is fairly new…considering the overall length of time that medicine has been practiced. It will take a long time in order to obtain answers. All we can give you at this point in time is our best guess.

“…the prevalence of lateral hip pain (likely gluteal tendinopathy) in people with low back pain has been reported to be as high as 35%…Importantly, treating the tendon-related pain has been shown to improve the function of those with low back pain, suggesting an interaction if not a causal relationship”

Okay…the authors of this journal article just made some big boy claims. First, to say that the lateral hip pain is likely tendinopathy is biased and absurd. We can not say this until the spine has been ruled out as a cause of lateral hip pain. Lateral hip pain is just that…pain in the outside portion of the hip. Until we rule out the spine as a cause of the pain, we can’t even say that the pain is coming from the hip. To make a claim this bold is arrogant. KNOW THIS: MULTIPLE JOINTS CAN REFER PAIN TO THE LATERAL HIP. If there is a problem in the back, it can show up at the lateral hip, which as the authors say is very common to have both back pain and hip pain simultaneously. If the SI joint is causing you problems, it could also show up at the lateral hip (not as common, but at least we can test for this). Finally, if the hip joint is causing problems, this can also show up as pain at the lateral hip. This is all before even talking about the gluteal tendons! The above statement is arrogant.

The second statement that is a stretch is to say that gluteal tendinopathy is the cause of low back pain. If you truly believe that, then you should buy this bridge I’m selling. It overlooks the bay in San Fran. Treating the hip tendons (also knows as core stabilization) is shown to be helpful in a small category of patients with back pain. To say that the hip caused the back pain is just as absurd as making a broad statement as the back caused the hip pain. Neither can be said until the patient is evaluated by someone unbiased.

“Many orthopedic hip tests can be used for diagnostic purposes for more than 1 condition”

This is like saying there are many tests that can be used to measure water pressure, but none of the tests can tell you where exactly the problem is coming from. The tests only tell us that you hurt when we do these tests. There is a good article by Jeremy Lewis, PhD called something along the lines of “Special tests aren’t that special”. This means that as much as we would like to hinge our decision making process on special tests…they don’t tell us much.

“…signs of local soft tissue pathology at the greater trochanter are common in imaging of those without lateral hip pain; thus, diagnosis should not rely solely on imaging studies”

Holy mouthful Batman! I think that the authors just said that imaging doesn’t tell the whole picture. Healthy people…without pain healthy people…can have the same exact picture as you, only they have no pain! IMAGINE THAT! We know so much more now than 10 years ago, but some of our new knowledge just works to muddy the picture of the pathoanatomical model (saying that we know which tissue is the problem).

“In studies of patients with clinical symptoms of lateral hip pain…atrophic changes in the gluteus minims and medius in 40% of the hips”

If your hip hurts, you may not use it as well (otherwise known as limping), which may cause a further problem with the muscles. This is just speculation, but the authors already speculated that hip pain causes back pain…so I feel justified.

“The authors of a recent article have demonstrated that five 45-second isometric quadriceps contractions held at 70% of a maximum contraction provided almost complete relief of patellar tendon pain, immediately and for at least 45 minutes”

I find this study fascinating because based on MDT principles, maybe it wasn’t the force or the prolonged hold, but simply straightening out a knee that is typically bent. I’ll have to find the study and see if the authors of that study actually tried to classify the patients before giving the treatment.

“Increases in night pain may indicate that the load has been too high and needs to be adjusted. Once each level of tensile load is well tolerated, the load should be slowly increased and the response monitored to maximize structural change in the musculotendinous unit, while avoiding or minimizing pain exacerbation. “

DON’T BE A MEATHEAD! Hi…my name is Vince and I am a meathead. I say this with love. If you do too much, you will create a chemical response in your body called INFLAMMATION (read it with the menacing voice like in the commercial for heinous diseases…like erectile dysfunction). If you do too much, you will hurt. The funny thing is that you won’t know you’ve done too much until you’ve actually done it. It’s like a new graduate not getting a job because they need 3 years of experience. The only way to get there is to get there.